Chapter Text
How To Control A Spy
Chapter 1
MI6 was the largest employer of Omega-Class in Britain.
Omega-Class, for those who never listened in any of the many, many school classes on Gifts, were individuals with Gifts deemed sufficiently dangerous as to require government registration. An unmanaged Omega Gift was one of the few reasons for terminating employment that had no legal defence, so Omega-Class were normally funnelled into government work of one sort or another. MI6 specialised in harnessing and controlling Omega-Class, so took most of them.
Of course, even the most espionage-friendly Gift wasn’t always attached to a personality geared for spy-work, and MI6 did not insist on it. One of their best surgeons was an Omega-Class with a Gift for shrinking, enabling some truly extraordinary keyhole surgery. But many Omega-Class were initially entered into the agent training program, to at least hone their Gift while they decided on what to do with their lives.
Omega-Class trainees were always paired with a non-Omega partner to help run interference. These non-Omega partners ended up with additional training and access to higher-classified information due to their partners’ special requirement.
Which was how Alec Trevelyan, raven-shifter and non-Omega, partner to telepathic Omega-Class James Bond, came to be sitting in a meeting with the other senior Omega-Class trainees and their partners, being briefed by a man who could only be described as “non-descript”, because that was his Omega Gift.
Bill Tanner had recently retired from the field on medical grounds, after a serious knee injury. He was left with a limp, and occasionally using a cane; rumour predicted he’d improve, but never enough to return to the field. His Gift, to go unnoticed, had advanced him nearly to Double-Oh status before the injury. Now, his skills were redeployed to personnel management.
Today’s briefing was…disturbing.
“So far a total of seven MI6 employees are known to have lost their Gifts. All seven were found, or awoke to find themselves, in back alleys across this part of London.” Tanner gestured to a map with various markers. “All the victims had traces of a sedative and soporific compound in their blood streams that caused not only unconsciousness, but also amnesia of the several hours prior to administration. They were interviewed with a telepath present, but there was nothing left to find.”
The presentation flicked passed a diagram of the compound, and onto a list of Gifts. “There seems to be level of escalation in the Gifts lost,” Tanner continued. “First were B-Class increases in speed, personal regeneration, and strength, followed by one victim who had A-Class increases in eyesight, hearing and smell. Then a shape-shifter with the form of a Common European Adder, then our best Seeker-”
“MacGregor?” James asked, then gave a sharp nod as he answered his own question.
Alec sat up straighter. “If he’s no longer a Seeker, does that mean M won’t mind if we kill him?”
“Wait, wait, wait,” trainee Barrette interjected. “If MacGregor has lost his Gift, and we all know Bond and Trevelyan are feuding with him and his partner, why aren’t they under suspicion?”
Alec frowned, trying to work out if they’d just been insulted. He and James had been feuding with MacGregor and his partner Hutchinson ever since the two full agents had roughed up their dearest friend, cat-shifter Q, while bringing him in. This was only about two days longer than they’d been feuding with Barrette and his partner Davies, who had taken offense to Alec and James recruiting Q to help beat them in a game of capture the flag – said feud beginning only once said illicit aid became common knowledge in the division.
These were not the only feuds Alec and James were currently waging. Alec wondered what it said about them that they’d managed to make so many enemies within their own agency.
James had drawn himself up, bristling at the accusation. He was just opening his mouth to respond when Tanner regained control.
“Bond and Trevelyan were in lock-up for last week’s brawl the night MacGregor lost his Gift,” he announced. “By the way, however you two changed Hutchinson’s computer username to “I am a fluffy bunny”, Technical Support Services have better things to do that cleaning up after feuds.”
Alec smirked, and held out his fist for James to bump.
“Anyway,” Tanner continued. “Last night, an Omega-Class lost their Gift. A teleporter.”
There was a stir in the room. “Shit, Mason?!” someone exclaimed. “I can hardly believe someone caught him out, let alone got past Hind.”
There was a hubbub as various trainees began quiet conversations. Tanner cleared his throat. “Hind and Mason were not together last night, but Mason can’t remember what he was doing, or where he was,” Tanner interrupted. “Anything else is either their own private business or classified, understood? This meeting is not to discuss your fellow trainees. You have been apprised of the situation. We are treating it as a serious threat, and suspect one of you might be the next victim. Do not go out without your partner, watch what you eat and drink, report any suspicious activity, take care. Bladed weapons are authorised for concealed-carry for all trainees until the situation is resolved. Do not abuse this privilege. Dismissed.”
“Honey, we’re home!”
“Alec, really?”
Q sat up on his futon. “How was your day?” he asked.
“Not too bad,” James called out as he stepped into the kitchen. As James and Alec had graduated, and become full-time employees at MI6, they’d rented a small two-bed flat, and Q had moved in. The lounge had been converted to serve as his bedroom, on the odd accession he wasn’t curled up as a cat with James, or Alec, or both. A lot of bed-sharing happened in their flat. “Alec set a new personal best for marksmanship with the assault rifle. And we had a class on explosives. Great fun.”
“Can’t say I learned much I didn’t already know,” Alec grunted, flopping onto the futon and barely missing Q’s feet. “Then there was a special meeting. Any chance you feel like turning fuzzy?”
Q closed over the laptop and set it aside. “If you insist,” he murmured. He knew well enough by now that being a fluffy little kitten the size of a bread-loaf relaxed James and Alec when their spy-lives got too tense.
He closed his eyes and started a mental exercise his new Gift Tutor had taught him. ‘I am human, and I am cat. When I am in human-form, the cat is in me. When I am in cat-form, the human is in me. The cat is as much me as the human.’ He focused on the anatomy of his cat-form, from whiskers to tail, and accepted it as his own. Then he pulled on his inner power, and changed.
The mental focus exercise allowed Q to achieve a full, controlled, reversible transformation. There was no blackout, and no difficulty changing back again. It also helped him fully control his tail, whiskers, purr reflex, and other feline characteristics. It had taken him several months of one-on-one tuition, not to mention a course on the anatomy and physiology of the cat, before he could do it reliably. He still needed a few minutes to do the exercise, though. Changing on the fly still produced blackouts, difficulty controlling the cat-form, and the inability to change back on demand.
Q stepped up onto Alec’s lap, and settled down, the other shifter stroking his ears. Sharp feline hearing easily picked up the sounds of James slapping together a quick and easy meal.
“Someone’s taking people’s Gifts,” Alec explained. “And it’s been escalating. Last night it was an Omega-Class.”
Q sat up, his mind racing with questions. Before he could focus enough to ask any one of them, James was already answering.
“Not me, but one of the other trainees. We don’t know who, how or why, or who the next target is. We’re on high alert.”
Q looked at Alec, and blinked. Alec smirked. “He’s getting good, isn’t he? At least with us.” He sighed, and leaned back, scratching behind Q’s ear. “I’m worried about him. The Omega-Class, it’s Saul Mason. The teleporter, you know? And if you’re going to escalate from that…not much better than a telepath.”
“You’re worrying too much,” James called. “I’m no more likely to be targeted than quite a number of others. Besides, I’ll know they’re coming.”
“If you’re telepathy doesn’t blink out at the wrong moment,” Alec grumbled.
James came in, wiping his hands. “Then we’ll just have to stick together and watch each other’s backs. And Q’s, just to be safe.”
Q mrow’ed, and stood up, balancing on Alec’s chest. ‘I’m not helpless, you know. I don’t need to be baby-sat.’
“I know, but we worry,” James said soothingly. He reached out and petted Q’s head. “It’s more for our own peace of mind. It’s only MI6 employees so far.”
“That we know about,” Alec muttered.
Q swished his tail, making it clear he wasn’t thrilled. ‘Can’t I do anything to help?’
“Not unless you know a way to get us enough information to start our own investigation,” James sighed.
“Wait…information…” Alec sat up abruptly. Q quickly extended his claws, gripping his shirt with a distressed cry. Alec scooped him up and held him steady. “Sorry, boff. But, it was you who changed Hutchinson’s username, right?”
‘Yes? He dislocated your shoulder…’
“Yeah, exactly,” Alec continued, either assuming Q had answered in the affirmative or taking the question rhetorically. “So, you can hack MI6. Do you think you could get more information than was in the briefing?”
Q puffed himself up. ‘I can get all sorts of information!’
“That’s a yes,” James translated. “Come on, the food should be nearly ready.”
Q hopped onto the top of Alec’s head, then to James’ arms, then to his shoulder. A few seconds and a loud caw later, Alec-the-raven joined him on James’ other shoulder. James petted one creature, then the other. “You know, it’s entirely likely M has people on it already,” he told them. “It doesn’t have to be us solving everything.”
Q just flicked his tail imperiously as Alec cawed a corvine laugh.